POLICE are appealing for witnesses after an arsonist torched a Winterley pub while three men slept in their beds upstairs.

Aniello di Blagio, his son Stephano and chef Georgio del Vechio were woken by choking smoke. They escaped uninjured by climbing from a first floor window on to a low flat roof as the blaze ripped through the downstairs of the Holly Bush pub in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police and fire investigators are looking into the cause of the blaze which has gutted the Crewe Road pub and restaurant.

They confirmed it is being treated as suspicious and started in the main entrance doorway at about 1.30am on Sunday.

Station Commander Clive Pickering, the fire chief in charge of the incident, said: 'We sent three applicances because we thought initially there were people still inside.

'As the firefighters were arriving they were met with a pall of smoke and very high flames above the building from the entrance door.

'We were there until about 5am and the fire investigation officers were there for a large part of Sunday along with the police.'

Altogether, 20 firefighters battled for 30 minutes to bring the blaze under control.

Fire chiefs say there were no smoke alarms fitted and if there had been they may have given earlier warning.

Winterley resident John Evington, told The Chronicle: 'It was about 1.50 in the morning and we heard a dull buzz from the generators and I opened the curtains and saw all this smoke above the houses.

'I realised it was the pub straightaway. The flames had subsided by the time I got there but there was a lot of smoke.'

Detective Sergeant Ken Parkin, of Crewe CID, said: 'We are treating it as suspicious. The residents went to bed and were awoken by smoke. They escaped through a window and on to a flat roof.'

Anyone with any information should contact DS Parkin at Crewe Police Station on 01270 500222 or the confidential Crimestoppers number on 0800 555111.